- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Providence Athenaeum
3 reviews for Providence Athenaeum
In my opinion, the Athenaeum perfectly represents the spirit of Providence. Rich in history, radiantly beautiful, if a bit scruffy around the edges. An outpost for rebels, academics, free-thinkers, seekers of every stripe. It is more than a library, it is what you'd find on the other side of the wormhole you imagined was under your childhood bed. While my dad was geeking out with the librarian over H.P. Lovecraft, I got to explore every corner of this place. Nooks and crannies? Check. Marble busts of famous dead Rhode Islanders? Check. Oh yeah, and books. Lots and lots of books.
This is a must see! The building is beautiful and the collection fantastic. When you have out of town guests take them in and just wal around. It was recently mentioned in an article in the NYT.
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
Even though it's small, this is the most awesome library I've ever been to. I want to live and work in it. I want to raise my children in it. I want to hold parties in it. I want to haunt it when I'm dead and drop books on the heads of the foolish jocks and/or frat types who may mistakenly wander in whilst drunk or stoned. I imagine Edgar Allan Poe suddenly emerging from the stacks with booze on his breath or Henry Adams jabbing passerby from the upper stacks with a yardstick and castigating them with curious and colorful late-19th Century invective. Certainly the spectre of Chuck Dickens has visited the Athenaeum, perhaps with Ellen Ternan on his arm, seeking refuge in the afterlife from the posthumous scandal that erupted after Ternan's identity as his mistress was made plain. All libraries have ghosts living in them, but none have the immediacy of those residing in the Athenaeum.
People thought this was:
- Funny (2)